Thursday, January 25, 2007

Visitors of this blog aged in their 50s or older and living in Western Europe will remember this remarkable traditional French jazz band named Charquet et Co that bulldozed the venues of traditional jazz in the 1970s. It was founded as the Reverend Charkey's Congregation, later renamed Sharkey et Co, before it got its definitive name Charquet et Co.The leader of the band was Jean-Pierre Morel. They changed their name in Charquet et Co, so it sounded more French, and during the 1970s they made several LPs and were on stages all through Western Europe. At the top of their success, in 1978, Morel felt in necessary to leave music for a while and Charquet et Co was disbanded. It is, looking back, an unforgivable mistake that I never visited a concert of this band during that period. What a shame !In the 1980s some other hot jazz bands in the French traditional scene, like the Hot Antic Jazz Band and the Orpheon Celesta, continued the traditional hot jazz music style. Some of the musicians of Charquet et Co played in the Orpheon Celesta, like Emmanuel Hussenot and Daniel Huck. I heard this great band at a 1985 concert in Maastricht ( The Netherlands)

Due to the fact that one of the members of Charquet et Co passed away, I guess to remember it was the former banjo player, the 1970s members reunite at his funeral and decided to make an engagement for a jam session some months later and so the band reunited. In November 1996, thePetit Jazzband de Mr. Morel had his first public appearance and I was so lucky to hear this rebirth Charquet et Co, in May 1998 at the Chassé Theatre in Breda ( The Netherlands) featuring Jean-Pierre Morel, Alain Marquet and Daniel Huck as members of the original band.

I love to share with you two fragments of performances I found from a 1978 concert at Laren ( The Netherlands) that gives you an impression of the original band sound.